Courtney Lewis, Music Director
Haskell Endowed Chair
Alessio Bax, Pianist
Bedřich SMETANA |
The Bartered Bride |
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART |
Piano Concerto No. 21 |
Antonìn DVOŘÀK |
Symphony No. 7 |
It seems that Mozart wrote his 21st Piano Concerto as a vibrant and comedic antidote to the dark and dramatic 20th. Alessio Bax is the perfect pianist for this piece with fun and games in the outer movements and the famous middle movement’s floating nocturnal world. The New York Times called his playing “so seemingly effortless that the music appeared to live and breathe of its own volition.” Courtney Lewis and the Symphony pay homage to Mozart’s deep career connection to Prague with two pieces by Czech masters: Smetana’s Bartered Bride Overture and Dvořàk’s most intensely expressive symphony.